Digital Battery Passport (DBP) is changing the way batteries are tracked, shared, and managed throughout their lifecycles across Europe. While much of the attention has focused on electric vehicles, batteries are the foundation of modern living, powering smartphones, laptops, home energy systems, and renewable energy grids.
As demand for batteries grows across these sectors, we urgently need more transparency and accountability across their lifecycles. Extending DBP adoption beyond electric vehicles can increase efficiency, improve recycling, and strengthen Europe’s circular economy. This expansion will also help the EU’s broader sustainability goals under the European Green Deal and the new EU Battery Regulation.
For the BASE Project, this represents a critical challenge. BASE is demonstrating how Digital Battery Passports can serve multiple industries by helping them create an integrated ecosystem where every battery, from mobility to microdevices, can be traced, reused, and recycled responsibly.
Why Battery Passports Matter Beyond Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicles have accelerated public awareness of battery traceability. However, consumer electronics and stationary energy storage systems account for a significant share of global battery use. These smaller or distributed batteries often fall outside formal collection networks, making effective recycling difficult.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) reports that only around 50% of portable batteries are properly collected for recycling. The rest end up in mixed waste streams, leading to the loss of valuable raw materials such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel.
Digital Battery Passports can change this. Each battery can be given a unique digital identity containing verified data on its materials, carbon footprint, and lifecycle performance. For manufacturers, this ensures compliance with the EU’s extended producer responsibility requirements. For consumers, it provides accessible sustainability information and helps guide responsible disposal or repair.
Wider implementation of DBPs in these sectors would bridge long-standing data gaps and empower both businesses and consumers to make circularity measurable and transparent.
Consumer Electronics: Tackling a Hidden Waste Stream
Portable electronics represent one of Europe’s most overlooked sources of waste. The rapid turnover of devices such as smartphones and laptops contributes to mounting e-waste and low recovery rates.
Integrating Digital Battery Passports into these devices can help track and recover critical materials more efficiently. A QR-coded battery label could give consumers real-time access to verified information about origin, materials, and recycling options.
Manufacturers would also benefit from visibility across their supply chains, supporting the design of products that are easier to repair and disassemble. Over time, these measures could significantly reduce the environmental impact of consumer electronics while helping meet the EU’s circularity targets under the Circular Economy Action Plan.
Energy Storage Systems: Ensuring Sustainable Grid Integration
Energy storage systems (ESS) are vital to Europe’s renewable energy future. They help balance supply and demand, store energy from solar and wind, and stabilise the grid. Yet, their sustainability depends on how materials are sourced, managed, and recycled.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) highlights that demand for grid-scale batteries will increase dramatically in the next decade. Without robust traceability, this growth could amplify environmental and ethical challenges associated with raw material extraction and waste management.
Digital Battery Passports can make these systems transparent and accountable. By capturing verified data on battery chemistry, performance, and end-of-life handling, DBPs ensure that renewable energy integration does not come at the cost of sustainability. They also make regulatory compliance and cross-border trade smoother by standardising reporting mechanisms for carbon footprints and recycling rates.
Economic and Environmental Impact
Expanding the DBP framework beyond electric vehicles can deliver measurable benefits across multiple dimensions. Lifecycle traceability can reduce resource loss, improve material recovery efficiency, and promote greener production practices.
Manufacturers demonstrating transparency in their supply chains stand to gain both regulatory and market advantages. Consumers, in turn, are empowered to make better choices through verifiable information about product sustainability.
This transparency fosters trust, innovation, and competitiveness — key ingredients for achieving the EU’s ambition of a fully circular battery value chain.
BASE EU: Leading the Expansion of Digital Battery Passports
The BASE Project is at the forefront of implementing these concepts within the European context. Its mission is to create a trusted, interoperable, and secure Digital Battery Passport framework that works across diverse applications.
BASE’s platform integrates advanced technologies such as blockchain and lifecycle analysis tools to ensure accuracy and privacy in data exchange. The project’s focus extends beyond regulatory compliance to innovation — building a system where traceability drives both sustainability and business efficiency.
By piloting and validating Digital Battery Passport models across different sectors, BASE is demonstrating how the same digital framework can support traceability in consumer electronics, stationary storage, and beyond. Through collaboration with industry, policymakers, and research organisations, BASE is laying the groundwork for a harmonised European standard that can be scaled globally.
Looking Ahead: Towards a Connected Battery Ecosystem
As the EU Battery Regulation enters its implementation phase, the next step is to ensure that all batteries, regardless of their size or use, are digitally traceable. From handheld devices to renewable storage systems, a connected data ecosystem can reshape how batteries are designed, reused, and recycled.
With initiatives like BASE leading this transition, Europe is well-positioned to set the global benchmark for sustainable battery management. The journey towards universal traceability is not only a regulatory goal but also a pathway to innovation, circularity, and climate resilience.
The BASE project has received funding from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) Research and Innovation Actions under grant agreement No. 101157200.
References
European Commission (2023). New EU regulation on batteries and waste batteries: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1542/oj/eng
International Energy Agency (IEA) (2022). Global EV Outlook 2022: https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2022
European Environment Agency (EEA) (2023). Collection rate for portable batteries and accumulators (Indicator): https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/european-zero-pollution-dashboards/indicators/collection-rate-for-portable-batteries-and-accumulators-indicator
International Energy Agency (IEA) (2023). World Energy Outlook 2023: https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2023
European Commission (2020). Circular Economy: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy_en
European Green Deal (2024). Striving to be the first climate-neutral continent: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en